Seemingly coming
out of nowhere for most audience members, The
Wife has quickly become the frontrunner for one of the Academy Award’s
biggest accolades, despite the fact that it was in and out of theaters before
award season had even truly began. While there is only so much attention that
needs to be given to award nominations, it is telling that Glenn Close has won
several major awards for her performance, despite being in a nearly unknown
film. While at least part of that seems to be the tendency to reward a career
of performances rather than just the one nominated for, there is no denying
that Close’s performance carries the film.

Having another
film with a score filled with jazz music is not reason enough to consider
Damien Chazelle to be an auteur, but the themes of First Man connect to the filmmaker’s last two works, despite each
existing in a genre of their own. First
Man is a biopic, through-and-through, but one that doesn’t fall into the
usual narrative trappings. On top of that, First
Man contains further evidence of Chazelle’s worthiness as an Academy
Award-winning director, from the spectacular camera work to the effectively
nuanced performances he gets from the capable cast. Every year, there is at
least one film that is shamelessly ignored during award season. This year we
have several (in order to make room for the films that made a lot of money),
but I would put First Man at the top
of the list for under-appreciated films.